First vendors start releasing things with SD card readers, and people quickly realise Linux can't use them. Then several very talented hackers start a project to reverse engineer SDHCI controllers, since the SD Card Association won't release specs publically (apparently citing "trade secrets").

Talented hackers get things working so well that it makes it into 2.6.17-rc1.

After all this is done, the SD Card Assosociation, seemingly without any prior communication, release a simplified spec now that the community has figured it out.

Of course it acts as a good check that what was reverse engineered is correct, and reverse engineering things can certainly be a lot of fun. But really, what a lot of wasted resources thanks to a backwards vendor. What exactly have the SD Card Association gained, apart from bad will?

posted at: Wed, 05 Apr 2006 10:22 | in /linux | permalink | add comment (0 others)